Squad Analysis: Attack

As soon as the last Russian Premier came to an end, Lokomotiv were linked to a host of strikers such as Wellington Paulista, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Maicon, Aleksandr Kerzhakov, Maksim Skavysh and Eugeny Savin amongst others. To date, no new forward was registered apart of the return of Malian striker Dramane Traore who passed last in season in Krasnodar at Kuban.

Although recently Semin have been employing just one striker, and there are 3 strikers available together with the versatile Odemwingie, it is undeniable that Lokomotiv are in the market for a striker, possibly Russian. The current three options available to our father are Dmitry Sychev, Dramane Traore and the young Aleksandr Minchenkov, who when last season was given the chance he showed some good performances. To remember is his well taken goal which paved the way for Loko's victory over Spartak.

Talking about Spartak, the player which Lokomotiv have been heavily linked with throughout the transfer window is no one else former Spartak striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, who was literally frozen out by the questionable Harry Redknapp - who is the man who is always promising Roman with first team football but then never deliver. To add insult to injury, Mr. Harry was happy to let Keane leave and let the Russian striker riot on the bench. Just shameful!! Although if Roman join Lokomotiv he will for sure bolster our front line, I concede that I am a little bit against the transfer. This is due to Pavlyuchenko's past at Spartak. Actually the finger infront the month (as the pic) was a familiar celebration from Pav whenever he scored against at Lokomotiv Stadium. Moreover I am sceptical over the high transfer fee required from the Londoners. Not because he is not worth them, but we are talking about a 29 year old who is not a starter and undoubtedly this means that his value should be a little bit lower. Anyways Lokomotiv tried to lure the Russian hot shot back to Russia but didn't received any answers from Tottenham - unprofessional to say the least. It is reported that Dirty Harry wants to keep the striker at least until the end of their season. Pity!!

Another striker which Lokomotiv are reported to be highly interested is the young Brazilian striker Maicon, who currently plays for Fluminense. Although he was one of the hero's of the Brazilian bid for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Egypt, I don't believe that he is up to the level of Lokomotiv. Statistics show that he scored just 6 goals in 59 appearances. His record with the Brazilian Under-20 squad is much better as he scored 3 goals in as many appearances. The fee required is thought to be 5 million dollars. Another drawback is that as Pavlyuchenko, Fluminense are holding out for their 19 year old prized asset till summer, this according to ItaSportPress. An even further cons is that he is not Russian, and with the amount of "legionnaires" already a little bit worrying, I believe that the management should go for a Russian player.

This is actually the main reason why today I was happy to read the championat.ru report which linked Lokomotiv to Spartak striker Dzyuba. Although as Pavlyuchenko he is a Spartak striker, and thus using the same aforementioned reasoning I should not welcome Artem, I believe that his status is for sure not as much high as that of Pav, and thus I believe, that in this case Semin should pounce on Dzyuba. Actually unlike Pav, he never wore the captain band. Correct me if I'm wrong. Besides that he is Russian, I don't believe that Spartak will hold out for a huge sum for the transfer of the player. This because of the rumours of the past summer which reported that he robbed then team mate Vladimir Bystrov. Although the young striker denied such claims, he was dismissed with immediate effect from Spartak first team and eventually shipped on loan to Tom Tomsk.


Artem Dzyuba, born in Moscow, is 21 years and despite his tenure age, Artem has already amassed over 50 Premier League appearances. Moreover should he join Lokomotiv, the striker will bring in some much needed European experience, as of the current crop only Sychev have some European experience. Another pros is the fact the striker will bring some much needed cms with his 1.93m height. Despite this, Dzyuba is considered to be a fairly technical player.

Strictly speaking, although I would welcome any of those mentioned above, I believe that more chance should be given Dramane Traore and even more to Aleksandr Minchenkov. This because the latter, nicknamed "the Sword", have joined Lokomotiv at a relatively tender age and what's better than having a player who is a "home grown"?

Anyways, regardless of who arrive, if any, I just hope that Sychev will show the game he showed in the second half of the season and thus cement his place in the first eleven. It would be an unimaginable scenario seeing my idol on the bench! Let's hope for the best!!